The Istoriaphile’s Corner

Society always finds some lethal “Big Bad” to fear.  It might be a meteorite, or a pandemic, or even industrial pollution but every culture identifies some civilization-killing threat and then worries about how to survive it.  When I was little, adults were obsessed about “the bomb”.  Everything was about  A-bombs, and the H-bombs: who had them, who would get them, and how would we survive if they went off.  The Bomb was the boogeyman of our culture and creative people used it in their work.  One of the earliest post-bomb stories is also one of the nicer ones.  Until you look at it up close, it’s hard not to like Alas, Babylon. Alas, Babylon is the story of how a small Florida community fares in the aftermath of a nuclear attack.   They’re close enough to see distant mushroom clouds, but distant enough to avoid lethal exposure to radioactivity.  Many people die, from to illness, injury or suicide.  The people who survive have to adapt to a much tougher world and, in a few cases, the disaster gives their lives new meaning.  The author implies that by stripping some things of their  artificial value (for example money reverts to worthless paper)…